Antinomianism is a sub-christian heresy that teaches one is not subject to God’s Moral Law. Although Christians differ on the applicability of the Sinaitic Covenant and the Ten Commandments (some prefer to consider God’s standard of morality to be the “Law of Christ” or the “Law of Love,” antinomians do not believe that there is a standard of personal morality or obedience to the Scripture’s commands that they are to follow.
The term developed post-Reformation to describe those who took the doctrine of Justification too far, who deny that Christians should strive for conformity to God’s standards as written in the Holy Scriptures. Chiefly, they err when Paul says, “Shall we continue to sin so that grace may abound? God forbid.” Their understanding of grace is that it does not necessarily lead one to repentance or sanctification in regards to keeping the imperatives of the Bible.
Sometimes, followers of antinomianism are called Christian Anarchists. Originally developing from a misunderstanding of Lutheran theology, antinomianism first began among sects of Lutheranism, and was rejected strongly in the Book of Concord. Certain Quakers were guilty of this heresy, as well as the 17th Century sect in the New World, the Ranters.
New Covenant Theologians are often accused of antinomianism because they prefer thinking and speaking of God’s standards of personal righteousness as the “Law of Christ” or “Law of Love,” but characterization of them as true antinomians is not accurate.
Modern practitioners of antinomianism include Joseph Prince and those guilty of practicing “hyper-grace” who are particularly active in the Charismatic movement, which doesn’t teach concepts like sanctification or conformity to Christ, and doesn’t mention the repentance of sin.
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